One Day in Tainan: A Self-Guided Food Tour - Eater

"Mr. Chen, as he prefers to be called, lives two hours to the southeast of Tainan, in an area where most people are Hakka, an ethnic subgroup of Han Chinese complete with its own language and culinary customs that migrated to Taiwan from southern China in the 18th century. Each morning, Mr. Chen sets out from home before dawn to hawk several different kinds of freshly made Hakka-style nian gao (a sweet rice cake) and mochi to morning shoppers. Not quite desserts, not quite confections, everything in his box of delights is made of glutinous rice pounded into paste. Before steaming, varieties get slightly sweetened with white or brown sugar and flavored with adzuki beans, taro, banana, or with a combination of millet, barley, and other grains. Each portion is about the size of a deck of cards and comes wrapped in plastic. The pale colors don’t give much away in terms of flavor, so it’s a bit of a blind tasting for those who don’t speak Mandarin or Taiwanese. Get a second box to nibble on the train ride back to Taipei. Open: 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; closed Sundays and Mondays. Price: from $30 TWD ($1 USD) Directions: Continue north on the opposite side of Guohua Street for 150 feet to your next destination." - Steven Crook